Tuesday, February 27, 2007

In The Making

Joe Möhle has opened a new problem at Llandudno on the high face left of "Baby Shark". "In The Making" 7B+ is a stand start and climbs poor slopers diagonally up rightwards to join the arete of "Baby Shark". Joe is currently working on a sit start to the problem which is bound to raise the difficulty.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Osiris Extended

Edvinas Šmigelskis added an extended start to "Osiris" on his first attempt, uping the grade to 7B. The problem now starts in the rail below the starting hueco of "Pudgy Bitch" and traverses left to join the original start.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Gold Rush Action

The boulders of Gold Rush in Mpumalanga saw more action this month. The highlights were Guy Hubbard's first ascent of the dynamic "Leap of Faith" 7C, and Russ Hattingh repeat of "Blunt Force Trauma" 7C. Hubbard also opened a range of moderate problems including "Absinthe" 7A, "Loco" 7A, "Lime & Soda" 6C and "Mail Order Bride" 6C. Check out the gallery here.
Guy mid-flight on "Leap of Faith"

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Ard Ay for Emile

Emile Esterhuizen has made the 7th ascent of "Ard Ay" 8A+ at The Seaside area in Topside. This is the first ascent after the prblem was downgraded from 8B and it seems that consensus is being reached regarding the grade of this classic problem.